Meet Me at the Fair
by Lorca the Great
Summary: Friday 12:00 - the sand sculpture. That was all the information that was given to Roxas. Who makes a blind date at a fair? AkuRoku Oneshot for 8/13.


**Author's Note:** Happy AkuRoku day everyone!! It's a little early for me, but I'd might as well get this out there. Yay 8/13!!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything in here except for the writing. The writing is mine.

**Summary: **Friday 12:00 - the sand sculpture. That was all the information that was given to Roxas. Who makes a blind date at a fair?

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Meet Me at the Fair

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It was noon and the cotton was high. Cotton candy, that was. And a little blond wanted to get his face as full of that sweet stuff as soon as humanly possible. That or a caramel apple, but Roxas didn't like to get his hopes too high. That also applied to the little slip of paper that Olette had given him with a specific time and place scrawled out on it. Well, maybe just a load of sweets wasn't exactly the only thing he was looking forward to during his visit to the county fair. Not that Roxas would openly admit that he was looking forward to this set up. It was the mindset of a nineteen year old guy.

Really, who makes a blind date at a fair? The fair was reserved for cheesy couples where the guy shoots the hoops and throws the ball at the milk jugs and wins the huge stuffed animal for his date. Roxas really wasn't looking forward to any of that sugar-coated couple crap, but there certainly was something giddy in his chest that drove him on.

Bright colors flashed by as he strolled leisurely down the old pavement, the distant sound of screaming elicited from the not-so-stable or rust-free fair rides adding to the music of the atmosphere. A few kids brushed by his ankles and more or less almost knocked him down while their mother gave Roxas a death glare as she hustled on by. Hey, it was all part of the experience, right? Damn kids.

The blond dug around in his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper for the fifth time since he entered the gates, which had been no more than five minutes previously.

_Friday 12:00 - the sand sculpture._

There were the words written ever so delicately in Olette's girly scrawl. He glanced up and just beyond the roasted almonds stand stood that year's sand sculpture. Blue eyes scoped the area. A mom with a stroller, a few old guys with halfway empty beer cups, and a clown. Damn, Roxas hated clowns. He kept his head lowered, lest the balloon animal molesting creeper with that bright red hair try to make him smile, and ducked behind the mother with her stroller. For safety, of course. Let's just say that Roxas had had a few traumatic childhood experiences with clowns that he wasn't looking forward to reliving anytime soon.

He spared a glance at the dark creature that had haunted him for all those long years. He was simply leaning casually on one of the poles holding up the barrier rope surrounding the dragon-looking sculpture. Roxas found himself staring at the clown and he started to come to his senses.

Did clowns usually wear black band tees and pants with chains and excessive amounts of zippers? And did clowns usually look that bad ass and damn sexy? Because Roxas was pretty sure that they were supposed to have bright red squeaky noses, not beautifully handsome faces. It took Roxas a half of a moment to realize that brilliant emerald eyes had glanced up at him, and he quickly looked away. At what? The sculpture of the dragon-thing, of course.

That was when the mother with the stroller took a swig of her beer – what the hell? – and wheeled her kid in the stroller away. Roxas took a breath and glanced around – not at the clown guy, of course – in search of whoever the hell he was supposed to be meeting. Damn, a description would have been a nice thing to have, Olette…

"-for someone?" It took a moment for the blond to realize that the person behind the voice had addressed that question to him. He spun around and glanced about, but only saw the stand with the plastic Dora the Explorer balloons and little foam lizard pets. His wandering gaze fell to the guy with the flaming red hair beside him, who was looking at the blond with a questioning quirk to his brow.

Roxas paused a moment and just stared at the guy who was actually focusing his attention on him and not acting all creepy clown-ish. "What?" Great way to sound intelligent, Roxas. Really, amazing diction and ability to show cognitive thought.

The guy smirked – definitely not like a clown – and turned away from the sculpture. "I said," woah, those were some green and fucking intense eyes right there, "are you waiting for someone?"

The blond blinked a few times before recovering from his temporary stupor. "Uh, sort of? Well, they were supposed to meet me here, and I guess I'm a little late."

A hand was thrust in his direction and Roxas stared at it blankly for a moment before grasping it uncertainly. "Name's Axel. Got that memorized?"

"Sure." Roxas wondered at the heat that emanated from the guy's hand.

The smirk hadn't left the guy's face. "Now's the part where you say your name and apologize for making me wait a whole ten minutes."

Roxas repeated his dazed, "Sure," before fully realizing exactly what the guy had said. "Wait, you're who I'm supposed to be meeting?"

The guy – Axel – shrugged. "Well, I'm meeting someone, and so are you. And here we are, shaking hands like the good acquaintances that we are."

_Shit_. Olette had good taste, Roxas had to admit. Although, he had been a bit thrown off by the tattoos. She didn't seem like the kind of person who would familiarize herself with someone with freaking facial tattoos. That took guts or some kind of balls of steel to get those. And suddenly he felt quite underdressed, seeing that he was just in some jeans and a tee shirt while this guy looked prepared to go to a pretty hardcore rave. Wait - was that eyeliner?

The blond allowed a smile to cross his lips. "I'm Roxas."

Their handshake was broken and the hand that had encased his own was balled against a delicious waist. "Roxas, hm? Well, Roxas, what would you like to do first?"

That giddy bubble hadn't popped and pretty much quadrupled in size in his chest. Well, this whole blind date thing wasn't so bad after all. "I haven't got a clue. I haven't been to the fair in a few years." Those green, green eyes lit up at that.

"Great, neither have I, but I used to go like, every single year when I was little. I wonder if they still have that bungee thing." His gaze drifted away in thought until Roxas burst out in protest.

"We are _not_ doing that. I'm not spending fifty bucks to get whiplash." All in good humor.

"How about a minor degree of whiplash with bumper cars? Those things can be pretty wicked in their own right." Daredevil. Sexy.

Roxas snorted, "Great, rides before food. Sounds fantastic to me."

Axel let out a bark of laughter. "But losing your lunch is half of the fun!"

The blond scoffed at that. "Right, I am _not_ willing to get sick on a first date." The redhead smiled and gave a light laugh.

"Come on then, Roxas. I'll buy the ride tickets and you can buy lunch. Deal?"

"Only in that order and only if you buy dessert afterwards. How about that deal?"

An index finger was pressed to Axel's temple. "I'll commit it to memory."

Roxas actually lost count of how many rides they went on. It didn't seem like it at first glance, but they fit a hell of a lot of those creaky carnival and travel-sized rides into that place. He also found it rather exciting that Axel enjoyed the marvelously scream-wrenching rides as much as he did. Not many people he had met really understood the rush of feeling like you could die at any moment.

Somehow, two hours passed by in their junky fair ride jaunt and by the time they had used up most of the tickets, both blond and redhead had reached a ravenous peak and formed consensus to fill their stomachs. They got the best fish tacos that the world had to offer to its poor, helpless inhabitants and went in search of a bench or table to devour them at. Their expedition led them to the agriculture building, where all of the outdoorsy companies made pretty little displays of their products and got prizes for them. It took a bit of searching, but the pair eventually found an empty bench and perched themselves on it. The entirety of their lunch break, save the time spent biting and chewing those wondrous tacos, was spent mocking the displays. They ranged from quite bland desert scenes to elaborate waterfalls with ponds containing goldfish. The lawn gnomes got the most bashing, since only the really junky displays had them.

"Really, who would want to have little fat old guy things running around in their shrubbery?" Axel wondered aloud before taking another bite of his lunch. He continued on after swallowing, "You would think that they would be worse pests than little Peter Rabbit."

Roxas chuckled at that. "Axel, I think you might be the only person I've known to ever question the purpose of lawn gnomes."

"Really?" Trimmed eyebrows shot upward, and he went on quite sarcastically, "Lawn gnomes aren't a large topic of discussion in your normal conversation?"

Blond spikes wagged back and forth. "Not in my books. But I don't know about you."

Axel waved him off. "Nah. I usually talk more about the Loch Ness Monster and how we should free it into the ocean." Roxas snorted and was promptly elbowed playfully. "Hey, Nessie exists, you know. Right up there with Bigfoot and Moby Dick."

Blue eyes were rolled, a bright smile never leaving Roxas' lips. "Fantastic. I'm eating lunch beside a lunatic."

The redhead punk-clown look-alike laughed and was soon joined by the blond. They finished their fish tacos and settled to go looking around for more gnomes to make fun of. On their way out of the building, they passed by a tropical Hawaiian flower stand and had two plumerias practically thrown at them as they passed by. Axel kept one for himself and snuck the other one behind Roxas' ear.

Axel laughed at the pout that the blond slapped on. "You look like such a fruitcake with that thing." He placed his own flower behind his ear to match Roxas.

He smirked in return. "You don't look much better, you know."

The redhead shrugged it off and placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder as they walked through the crowd. "So, where to next?"

He gave a thoughtful hum before responding. "We could always look at the junky stuff that they sell in that one huge building."

Green eyes seemed to double in size at the mention of the commercial building. "Is that the one with the mini doughnuts? Dude, we are _so_ getting those things. They are freaking delicious."

"Sounds fine to me," Roxas agreed before he was tugged into a swifter walk, hardly noticing the warm grasp around his hand.

They walked aimlessly around the overcrowded fairgrounds for a good while. The sun was slowly lowering in the sky and Roxas mourned its departure. He really wanted the day to keep on going so that he could spend just that much more time with the fascinating Axel. It seemed odd to him that the redhead didn't already have a boyfriend or someone; he was too awesome for anyone to pass up. But hey, Roxas wasn't complaining in his situation.

The pair were contemplating on whether to get sucked in by the luring fair games when a distant song echoed through the noisy area. Roxas strained his ears to listen and _damn_ that tune was familiar. It helped that Axel started to sing the lyrics beside him, and Roxas was compelled to join in.

After one round of the chorus, the redhead broke off in laughter. "Wait a minute, are they playing here?"

It was quite hard for Roxas to wipe his wide grin off of his face. "No shit?" They both took off at a run towards the stadium – got caught in the huge line for the hotdog stand – and made it into the crowded outdoor theatre. They gave each other excited glances and they began shuffling through the crowd to the rows of white plastic chairs.

Except nobody was _dancing_. Sure, a few people were swaying a bit, but damn it, this was a rock concert! You _dance your brains out_ at rock concerts. Axel seemed to catch that drift quite early on.

"Damn, I love this song," Axel stated to the booming music.

"What?" The blond cried over the noise, but it was lost. His wrist was tugged and he was pulled towards the middle of the stadium, Axel dancing as he went, the lyrics on his lips. Roxas laughed and joined him in his movements, singing along with the band.

Soon, people had gathered around the dancing pair and the bug had passed on to engulf the entire mosh-pit area. They were surrounded on all sides by the thrashing crowd, and both were just sucking the energy in.

It was dark by the time the concert came to an end. They joined in the massive flood of people leaving the stadium and were once more crushed against a bunch of random fairgoers. Roxas didn't normally like being in crowds, but being next to Axel made it all worthwhile. Once they were free of the bottleneck, the redhead posed a question.

"Hey, you want dessert now?"

The blond wasn't about to protest by any means. All that moshing had worked up an appetite. Just as promised, Axel paid for their dessert, and they walked aimlessly once more through the crowded and now brightly lit pathways of the fair. It had been far too long since Roxas had gotten a sea salt ice cream. He glanced happily up at the redhead, who was enjoying his own blue popsicle. They chatted about this and that, mostly about their preferred music and other such nonsense, until their desserts were reduced to just wooden sticks.

That was when Axel got a glint in his enchantingly green eyes and took hold of Roxas' hand and tugged him into the midst of the brightly lit and flashing rides. The blond unquestioningly followed, easily keeping up with the redhead's pace as he wove through the crowds.

That was when he saw it – the huge ferris wheel. Roxas' heart leapt into his throat. Those things were right up there with the clowns. Except… he was holding hands with one and suddenly the wheel didn't seem all that daunting.

He was met with a bright grin as they pulled into the line for the ride. "Want to go on the ferris wheel?" The answer was undoubtedly affirmative, and they were let into their cart after the redhead coughed up the last of the ride tickets. Their cart was yellow and red.

"Hey Roxas, we match our cart," Axel announced proudly.

The blond glanced at the other carts on the wheel. All of them had a combination of red, yellow, green and blue. "Axel, we match _all_ of the carts."

They jerked into motion as his sweet laugh rang out over the general noise of the rides. "We must be pretty color-compatible, then." Roxas blushed at the redhead sitting across from him. Well, it was true, from what he could see. He mentally scoffed at the doubts that he had formulated earlier in the day. He should have trusted Olette with this blind date idea earlier.

They went around the wheel a few times, touching the sky before brushing against the ground. They started to slow and they came to a stop at the peak of the circle.

Roxas snorted, "You didn't tell them to stop us at the top, did you?"

Axel laughed and glanced over the edge. "No, actually, I didn't." He was either a really good liar, or he was telling the truth and it was just by chance. Roxas was leaning towards the latter. He looked over the side and saw the waves crashing below and the bright and colorful fair on the opposite side.

"You think it's alright to kiss on a first date?"

Roxas' heart gave a leap at the question and turned to the redhead who was gazing at him with a soft grin. It was all he could do to not scream out a "Yes!' and throw himself at the guy. He settled for flushing deeply and stumbling over his words.

"Y-yeah. I think it's kind of quintessential-" Axel silenced him by leaning over and pressing a kiss to his lips. It was- perfect. A hand cupped the back of his neck and gently guided him closer. It was short-lived, but that made it all the sweeter.

The ferris wheel jerked back into motion and Axel pulled away, his sweet smile melting into Roxas' dazed eyes, which quickly returned the sentiment.

"Want to escape this madness and take a stroll on the beach?" Axel offered when they had clambered off of the ride.

"But I wore shoes," he half-protested, but couldn't for the life of him wipe the silly grin off of his face.

"Me too, but a little sand never hurt anyone. We just won't go in the water, hm?" They walked out of the fairground gates, the noise growing distant.

"Yeah, the water's probably freezing anyhow."

The pair climbed down the weather-worn steps of the promenade and onto the dark and moon-lit shore. Roxas silently chuckled at the romantic atmosphere as they stepped through the damp sand, leaving a pair of footprints in their wake.

A hand snaked out and laced with Roxas' fingers, catching him a little off-guard. Blue met glowing green.

Seeming to notice how the blond reacted, Axel questioned softly, "Is this alright?"

Roxas gave a soft chuckle in return, making no move to discontinue the embrace. "I never would have thought that you'd be such a sap."

Axel laughed lowly. "You mean with my whole badass look? Yeah, what can I say? I'm a softie on the inside. Sometimes." He amended slyly.

Roxas gave him a side glance, a smirk working its way to the surface. "And what do you mean by that?"

The redhead hummed and put on his own devious smirk. "You'll just have to wait and see."

Their laced hands swung nonchalantly between them as they walked down the shore, the waves slapping the sand and hushing back in the distance. They spotted a dark and deserted playground up ahead, right beside the looming and glowing pier.

"Care for a swing?" Axel stole the thought right out of the blond's mind.

Roxas sat on the plastic seat and coiled his arms around the chains holding him up. "You are very good at making me feel like a little kid again, you know." Axel just laughed and gave the blond a push before going to the second swing and standing up on the seat and putting himself in motion.

They swung for a while and Roxas eventually got the urge to be a 'cool kid' and stand up on the seat like the redhead. Once he got moving, Axel stopped and dismounted with a glint in his eye. He stepped in front of Roxas' swing and pulled it to a stop.

"Hey, I was swinging here!" The blond lightly protested, but faltered at the seductive look Axel was giving him. Whatever height difference that was between them was now no longer an obstacle.

"I hope you're swinging my way, then," he purred, pulling on the chain until their lips met. Their first kiss had been chaste and rushed. This one lingered far longer and was much more heated. Roxas hummed into the kiss as their lips worked, and he could feel the redhead smile. Axel pulled away slowly to allow the blond to catch his breath.

"Hey," the redhead drew those blue eyes to him once more, a bare inch away from his own, "you want to watch the fireworks from the pier? They should be starting soon."

"S-sure," Roxas replied breathily, and his middle was constricted. He instinctfully circled the redhead's neck with his arms as he was lifted off of the swing set chair and lowered slowly to the sand below. Axel smiled down at him before pulling away.

"Come on, there's some steps over here." He began to walk away, and Roxas quickly caught up, catching the redhead's hand in his own once more. Their gazes met, smiles melting together, hand in hand, and they made their way to the wooden pier to complete the night.

The orbs of colored light exploded over the water before them as they gazed out in awe. The cool sea air kissed their skin, bringing with it the chill of the night.

"Did you know that they put different chemicals that burn different colors into those things to get them to glow like that?" Axel offered a small bit of conversation.

Roxas hummed in interest, eyes transfixed to the sight before them. "You know," he said after a moment, "I was under the impression that you were going to be a kind of laid back and quiet guy."

Axel perked up at that. "Huh. I was told that you were a hyper spazz with ADD in need of an extreme chill pill."

Olette had told him that? "Really?" He let the subject drop and focused his attention back on the fireworks. The question that had occurred to him that morning was coming back to haunt him. "Hey Axel, how do you know Olette?"

"Olette?" The red eyebrows furrowed. "Who's Olette?"

Roxas deadpanned. His heart fell into his stomach. "You- you didn't get the meeting place and time for today from her?"

Axel stared at him intently. "I was told by Demyx. He didn't mention an Olette."

"You mean you weren't supposed to be my date and there are two guys wandering around like headless chickens without anyone?"

Axel burst into laughter at the sheer irony of it all and was joined by Roxas in his mirth. They eventually were able to choke down their laughter when they got a few stares from the old fisherman with their fishing poles hanging over the wooden railing. "It must be that little thing called fate. Or Karma, whichever you believe in. You know," Axel continued, "I did see two people when I arrived at the sand sculpture kind of meeting and greeting one another. Our dates probably found each other."

Roxas let out a sigh and leaned against the railing once more. "Well, that's a relief. I wouldn't want to unknowingly stand someone up. It's awkward enough as it is."

"Do you think I'm awkward?" The question was meant to be serious, but the blond couldn't help but smirk.

"Well, you see, I have this irrational fear of clowns…"

Axel's jaw dropped before he got a disbelieving and fake hurt expression. "You did not just-! You _so_ did not!"

Roxas laughed in defiance, but was cut short when an arm wound around his neck and he was given a playful noogie. He cried out and tried in vain to shove the redhead away, which he did in his own time. Roxas scowled up at him, but had a hard time keeping it from turning into a grin.

Axel simply stuck out his tongue at the blond and pointed out over the water. "Hey look, the grand finale!"

A huge array of colors brightened the sky before the pair, the sound of the explosions meeting their ears mere seconds later. The last of the thundering booms had echoed down the beach.

"Well, I guess that's it then," the redhead stated, staring at the cloud of smoke in the air created by the display.

"I don't think you're awkward, Axel." Roxas answered the question from before. He was met by a brilliant grin.

"That's good to know, 'cause you aren't either." The blond smiled up at him. Then an idea dawned on the redhead. "Hey, can I have your number?"

Roxas popped out of his dream land. "Yeah, but only if I can get yours as well." Axel agreed and they both rattled out their numbers to each other and likewise punched them into their cell phones. The blond checked the time on the screen before him. "Shit, I have to go. The last bus leaves the fair at 10:30."

"You rode the bus here?" Simple question.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, kinda. I drove to the high school and took the fair shuttle."

Axel shrugged. "I could always give you a ride there."

The blond could have cried out in triumph at that. Getting a ride from Axel and not have to ride that smelly old school bus? "That would be awesome."

Axel flashed a grin. "Great." He hooked his arm around Roxas' elbow. "You want to get together tomorrow for coffee or something?"

Roxas glanced slyly at the redhead who he had met for the first time that day but came to feel as if they had known each other for years. Who would have thought that they weren't even supposed to be each other's blind date? "Do I really want to subjugate myself to hanging out with a clown in a public setting?" He laughed at the playful scowl he got. "That'd be great."

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**End Notes:** Because everyone needs a little AkuRoku fluff in their lives.

Review and make a little author happy!

PS- I based the setting on my local fair. You get stalker cookies if you can guess where! (Somehow, I doubt that anyone will)


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